SMU master’s student receives Fulbright scholarship

by PegNews wire

Ali Asgar Alibhai will earn his master's degree in medieval studies from Southern Methodist University this August. He will also be traveling to Morocco in 2009, courtesy of the U.S. State Dept.'s Fulbright Scholarship program. (He's one of 39 SMU students that have earned a Fulbright in the last 35 years.)

Alibhai, who currently resides in DeSoto, has lived all over the place. He grew up in Abilene (after being born in New York) and earned his bachelor's degree in Arabic and Islamic studies in Karachi, Pakistan (at Al Jamea Tus Saifiyah academy). Following his study tour in Morocco, he plans to undertake a doctoral program at Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

While in Morocco, Alibhai intends to study religious lamps; he hopes to examine church bells captured by Muslims during the Middle Ages which were then transformed into lamps for use in mosques - some of which are still being used for this purpose today.

posted by JM / info from SMU